By John A. Tures, Professor of Political Science, LaGrange College
Early August is the annual ritual of “Back to School Shopping” in America, where parents engage in shopping for their kids. A debate has emerged over the rising costs of this shopping list. Should we have tariffs or a child tax credit? Opponents from the 2021 Senate election runoff are battling again over what should be done for Georgia’s working families with kids.
According to the Groundwork Collaborative and The Century Foundation, “the 2026–27 school year will cost families close to $4,000 per child, 10.7% more than it did last year, with a typical basket of school supplies costing 7.7% more and typical lunch items costing 10.9% more.”
At a press conference called by Senator Rev. Raphael Warnock, Liz Pancotti with Groundwork Collaborative and The Century Foundation noted that many of these products are produced overseas, and that companies are passing on costs to protect their bottom line. Moreover, “healthy foods cost more, and there have been cuts to government assistance for food security.”
Warnock cited his experience with growing up with his family in public housing and contends that families are having to shoulder these “back to school costs” by cutting back on other types of spending. “I grew up poor and know the importance of this. Georgia working families really could use the $300 every month.”
This is backed by back to school (BTS) research compiled by Natalie Martini, Brian McCarthy, Stephen Rogers, Lupine Skelly, and Manvi Verma for Deloitte. “Lower-income and lower-middle income parents surveyed expect to spend more due to higher prices, while upper-middle-income and higher-income parents are pulling back, given economic and financial concerns. 50% of parents are cutting back on other expenses to make room for BTS spending,” they write.
Warnock cited the American Family Act, which expanded the child tax credit, which was passed in 2021. “It lifted 165,000 out of poverty and affected 2.9 million children nationwide. It cut the national child poverty rate in half. Talk to anyone buy gas, groceries, school supplies…they know the prices are going up.”
During the press conference, I asked Senator Warnock what happened to the child tax credit from 2021. “It was a party line vote. Congress didn’t vote to extend it six months later. As a member of the Senate Finance Committee, I’m continuing searching for bipartisan support…not for tax cuts for the top, but for middle and lower incomes.” He cited his work to limit the amount of private equity in home purchases, and capping health care costs like that of insulin.
Senator Warnock contends that the tariff policies of the current administration are responsible for these higher costs for Georgia families. This view is bipartisan. As the conservative Cato Institute contends, tariffs serve as a tax increase on American consumers and companies. Not only do they boost inflation and costs, but they also drive business uncertainty due to the capricious nature of the president’s tariff policies, Cato contends.
Even the threat of tariffs may be hampering the economy. According to Scott Lincicome of the Cato Institute “To Trump and his defenders, this chaos is leverage. Per the “madman theory,” the unpredictability and impulsiveness compel opponents to cave to the president’s demands without costly follow-through…To the American economy, however, the chaos is a hidden tax, delaying corporate decisions on hiring, investment, purchases, and more – and the bill runs into the many tens of billions of dollars.”
Supporters of President Trump defended his policies. Warnock’s former opponent, ex-Georgia Senator Kelly Loeffler, praised Trump’s tariffs. As reported in Atlanta First News “[Small Business Administrator] Loeffler and [Georgia State Treasurer Brandon] Beach argued that current policies, including tariffs on imports, are driving domestic manufacturing and keeping the state’s job market strong. Loeffler noted that the administration is actively working to reverse decades of manufacturing being sent overseas… ‘Tariffs are bringing jobs back,’ Loeffler said. ‘They’re bringing strength back to this country. We’re going through an adjustment that is going to benefit all Americans because now, we’re no longer going to be reliant on foreign countries for the critical things that we need.’”
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling against the constitutionality of such tariffs (Learning Resources Inc. v. Trump), the Cato Institute recommends an additional step: retuning control of tariffs to their rightful Constitutional place in America: Congress. “Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution gives Congress, not the president, the authority to “lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises” and to regulate commerce with foreign nations. Throughout President Trump’s two terms in office, Congress has watched from the sidelines while the administration unilaterally imposes one legally dubious (to say the least) and economically destructive tariff after another, most recently reviving a nearly 100-year-old, never-before-used law (Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930) to heavily tax imports from Canada. Yet a recent bill introduced by Sen. Ron Wyden (D‑OR) is a positive sign that Congress may soon finally take this constitutional role seriously.”
John A. Tures is a professor of political science at LaGrange College in LaGrange, Georgia. His views are his own. He can be reached at jtures@lagrange.edu or on “X” at @johntures2. His first book “Branded” a thriller novel where corporate greed, media manipulation and academic intrigue collide in a deadly game of product placement, has been published by the Huntsville Independent Press (https://www.huntsvilleindependent.com/product-page/branded). His second novel, “Independent Thought,” about a third-party candidacy that brings America to its knees, is coming out later this summer with HIP (https://www.huntsvilleindependent.com/).